As 2023 comes to a close, Ascend Partners looks back on another remarkable year filled with success and growth. This year, Ascend experienced rapid internal expansion, welcoming 26 new employees from around the globe. Combined with our 21 hires in 2022, we are showing no signs of slowing down. Without a doubt, our achievements have come in large part from our strong partnerships with OneStream, our clients and our incredible team. These relationships have served as a solid foundation for our success, which is why we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to our community for their unwavering partnership, collaboration, and support. Continued Expansion into the U.S. and Growth in Canada In 2021, Ascend's leadership discerned a burgeoning demand for services in the United States and we zeroed in on this strategic growth opportunity. Fast-forwarding to 2023, to date we have successfully brought on board four new U.S. clients in the last year, for a total of eight clients across all regions. This achievement marks a significant milestone in our long term plans for U.S expansion. In addition to the expansion of our roster of clients, Ascend made several pivotal strategic hires in 2023, including the creation of a new Business Development Associate role in June to support our existing Business Development Manager in the Northeast. In September, we also welcomed our second Business Development Manager to our sales team to lead the charge in the Central U.S region and central Canada, further growing our presence and reach in key markets. In the coming year, we look to expand our sales reach in the Western U.S and Canada, so stay tuned for more details in the coming months. This dynamic growth in our Sales division is positioning Ascend very well for continued success as we navigate the exciting opportunities ahead. As activities in the U.S. have been on a steady incline, our unwavering focus on Canada, our core stronghold, persists. In 2023, we observed a substantial uptick in both the number of new clients and the scale of projects, welcoming new clients and securing the delivery of second and third phases for existing clients who are expanding their use of OneStream products. This noteworthy growth is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the OneStream Canadian sales group and our unwavering partnership and trust in this team. Looking forward to 2024, we anticipate maintaining our momentum with an exceptionally rapid expansion in both our client base and project sizes. We take great pride in our continued strong presence in Canada and eagerly embrace the promising opportunities that lie ahead. Managed Service Operations Since our inception, we have actively collaborated with clients to provide support for their existing OneStream applications, which is why Ascend responded to the escalating demand and growth within the OneStream ecosystem by officially establishing our Managed Service Operations (MSO) offering in 2022 as a distinct and standalone service. We are delighted to have seen demand for MSO continue to grow in 2023, with seven additional clients signing on to take advantage of our four tiers of service, each developed to cater to a diverse range of needs from day-to-day administration and technical support & training, to advanced application support and development. This comprehensive approach extends beyond our existing client base to encompass legacy clients and firms where Ascend did not handle the initial implementation. Operating in a managed service capacity, we are committed to delivering tailored solutions and support across various client scenarios, further solidifying Ascend's commitment to excellence in the evolving landscape of OneStream services.

Whether it's dealing with quarter-end crunch time, resolving mysterious validation issues, or finding ways to streamline workflows, the Ascend Partners’ team know all too well the realities OneStream admins face day-to-day to keep such a robust application (and all its data) running smoothly. That's why we were thrilled to have our VP of Project Delivery, Richard Masterman, and our MSO Manager, Ted Aitas, share their winning strategies for OneStream admin in our recent webinar, Navigating OneStream Administration and Strategies for Success . It's here that they explored best practices, actionable tips and sage advice for administrators and users looking to level up their skills in OneStream, as well as provide an overview of Ascend Partners' Managed Service Operations (MSO) - a flexible service designed to help businesses unlock their OneStream investment with ongoing support and enhancements. Let's recap the key takeaways from this informative session. But first, what is MSO? Ascend Partners MSO is a flexible subscription-based service for those looking for continued support after their OneStream Software implementation. Through MSO, customers gain an extension to their in-house teams with ongoing access to our experts including administrators, Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA), OneStream-certified architects, technical developers and consultants.  With MSO, we offer end-to-end care for your OneStream stack including: End user support Financial close task processing Application stability and performance optimization Training Enhancements, infrastructure support and maintenance

Our leadership team has a long and successful track record of implementing CPM solutions at real estate firms.

With 2022 drawing to a close, the team at Ascend Partners is pleased to look back on a year marked by incredible success and growth. From being elevated to Diamond Partner status in January, to winning the Power of the Platform award at SPLASH San Antonio in May for our planning project at Barrick Gold, we are thrilled to have achieved a number of amazing milestones throughout this past year. In addition, we have hired 21 new employees globally and added 13 new clients in Canada and the U.S. in 2022, proving to be our busiest year to date. We want to thank the entire OneStream team for your partnership, collaboration, and support, as it is without a doubt that our partnership with OneStream has been the keystone to our success. Expansion into the U.S. and Growth in Canada Toward the end of 2020, the leadership at Ascend began to see demand for our services within the U.S. Given our strong presence in Canada, where we currently hold 85% of the market share for OneStream implementations, we decided the best opportunity for growth was in the States. We took our first steps towards this opportunity in February of 2021, by augmenting our sales team and hiring a Business Development manager in Northeastern U.S. Our original plan was to focus on the Northeast and Mid-West where Canadians would be welcomed, however we quickly found out that our services were in fact needed in every market. Shortly thereafter, Ascend was able to bring on two large U.S. clients in the South and we are pleased to nurture a robust pipeline across the U.S. headed into 2023. 2022 New U.S. Clients: Sealed Air Corporation – Manufacturing – Charlotte NC Hillwood – Real Estate Investment – Dallas TX While activities are just starting to ramp up in the U.S., we also continued our work in Canada as our focus and stronghold. We saw a notable uptick in the number of new clients as well as the size of projects in Canada in 2022, having added 10 new clients and locked up delivery of second or third phases for eight existing clients who are expanding their use of OneStream products. This growth is surely a testament to the OneStream Canadian team and all their hard work over the years. We continue to forecast extraordinarily rapid growth in both the number of clients and size of projects in the next two years and are immensely proud to maintain a strong presence in Canada. 2022 New Canadian Clients: Linamar – Automotive Parts Manufacturing – Guelph ON NOVA Chemicals – Chemical Manufacturing – Calgary AB Wesgroup Properties – Real Estate – Vancouver BC NorthWest Health Care Properties – Real Estate – Toronto ON Shawcor Ltd – Oil & Gas – Calgary AB Cooke Inc– Commercial Fisheries – Saint John NB Richardson International – Food & Beverage Manufacturing – Winnipeg MB Ivanhoe Cambridge – Real Estate Investment – Montreal QC Tilray Brands – Consumer Products – Toronto ON SSR Mining – Mining & Minerals – Toronto ON 2022 Existing Canadian Clients Subsequent Phases: Barrick Gold - Tax Provisioning - Mining & Resources – Toronto ON Mattamy Homes – Planning – Real Estate – Toronto ON DeBeers – SAP Integration – Mining & Resources – Calgary, AB Savaria - Consolidation Expansion – Manufacturing – Montreal QC Onex – Planning, Budgeting, & Forecasting – Private Equity – Toronto ON FCR - Application Rebuild – Real Estate – Toronto ON Equinox Gold - Management Reporting – Mining & Resources – Vancouver BC Mattamy Homes – Joint Venture Reporting – Real Estate – Toronto ON Managed Services Operations 2022 also saw the formalization of our Managed Services Offering at Ascend as a standalone service due to the high demand and growth in the OneStream ecosystem. We have been working with clients to support their existing OneStream applications since our founding and are pleased to now offer Managed Services Operations (MSO) split into five tiers of services to accommodate the various levels of client needs. We also work in a managed service capacity for existing clients, legacy clients, and firms where we did not do the initial implementation. Support Clients: Barrick Gold – Mining & Resources – Toronto ON Mattamy Homes – Real Estate – Toronto ON The Marmon Group – Construction – Chicago IL LCI – Education – Montreal, QC MacDonald, Dettwiler & Associates – Aeronautics & Robotics, Toronto ON 2022 New Hires To support our continued growth this past year, we needed to hire many new people at all levels. Luckily, we have a strong network and reputation in Canada, so were able to find incredibly talented and eager new hires who have made a positive impact on the organization. On top of this, Ascend added two new hires in the U.S. and plan to add many more in 2023 as we continue to grow our business in the States. New Employees: 4 Functional Consultants 10 Technical Consultants 3 Senior Project Managers Business Development Manager Director of Special Projects Finance Manager Marketing Operations Manager Training & Certifications Ascend Partners invests heavily in OneStream training to ensure that our team members, including senior Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) and highly skilled OneStream specialists, architects, data integrators and developers, are highly proficient in the latest tools, techniques, and practices for administering and implementing top quality services. In the past year, two Ascend team members have passed the OneStream Certified Professional (OCP) exam and achieved the coveted Lead Architect certification designation, demonstrating the highest levels of technical competency, productivity, and industry recognition. We currently have eight more highly qualified team members on the Lead Architect certification path, and they will be completing their certifications in 2023. Historical OneStream Training Achievements: 28 Application Build for Consultants (Level 1 Certification) 2 First Project Readiness Learning Path (Level 1 Certification) 3 Designing an Application & eLearning Lab 2 Level 2 Financial Planning 6 Level 2 Reporting 8 Level 2 Financial Model Rules 2 Level 3 Dashboards 1 Level 2 Studio Basics What’s Next? In 2023, we plan to remain focused and committed to the Canadian OneStream market while working hard to expand across North America. We also look forward to bringing in more talented employees as we explore expansion into new markets. And most of all, we are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the OneStream family and look forward to continuing to deliver sophisticated quality OneStream implementations in 2023 as a Diamond Partner. The entire Ascend team would like to thank you for being such a catalyst to our growth - we would not have been able to reach the milestones we achieved without your continued support and partnership. From sales to alliances and everyone in between, the team at Ascend wish you the very best of the holiday season and success in 2023.

Ascend Now Offering OneStream Managed Service Operations

Ascend Partners was proud to send eight members of its team to the OneStream Wave Conference held in Las Vegas from November 9th to 11th. The conference featured three learning streams: developer, architect and tax. Most of the team attended the developer and architect sessions while one member attended the tax sessions.

As a company, CFO, or large enterprise that has used SAP (ECC or SAP S/4HANA) and seen the future development of the multitude of potential SAP products and the forced migration to a flawed product, your most pressing question may be: "How on earth can we extricate ourselves from this web of software dependencies and still access and integrate our data cost-effectively?" OneStream, to many, is a ‘white knight’ riding into the fray of business corporate performance management legacy systems. It provides a unique ability to ensure data quality and enhanced financial reporting analysis while still offering drill-back capabilities to transactional details. Often the OneStream integration with SAP is more straightforward than using SAP CPM solutions, such as BPC. The following data integration illustration shows why over 100 SAP ERP clients have made the switch to OneStream. Harmonious Integrations OneStream allows a simple and harmonious integration with SAP (ECC or S/4HANA) in any of their versions. Communication can be direct with the ERP and Integration Servers such as SAP PI, SAP PO and SAP Cloud Platform Integrations. OneStream can adapt its interfaces depending on the client's SAP service architecture. The most common integration plan includes direct connection. This simple solution is meant for non-complex SAP architectures. Its data integration is an easy two-way communication:

Ascend Partners is proud to announce that we have been recognized as a Power of the Platform Award Winner by OneStream at the 2022 Splash Global User Conference and Partner Summit. This award recognizes OneStream Global Advisory Program partners who have truly extended the OneStream platform over the past year across North America, Latin America and APAC. Ascend won the Power of the Platform award for our work on the Barrick Gold “Life-Of-Mine High Volume Planning” project. Keep reading to learn about the work we did, and the incredible results achieved for our client.

When your current financial software can no longer deliver the value you need, it’s time to make a change. The decision between upgrading a patchwork combination of point solutions and migrating to a best-in-class tool is easy — especially when you’ve got Ascend Partners implementing the new solution. When Barrick Gold faced this same decision, we helped them make the change to OneStream, the global leader in corporate performance management solutions. Barrick Gold is a world leader in the mining industry. They operate in 13 countries with 16 operational sites that produce gold and copper. In total, Barrick Gold consolidates over 400 legal entities. Managing a company as sophisticated as Barrick with complex needs is no easy feat. As a result, the demands they place on their financial software are also high. Dealing With Software Limitations In the past, Barrick Gold was using Hyperion to manage their financial data, but it just wasn’t getting the job done. As a result, they were using multiple point solutions for their consolidating and planning, creating a slow, complicated process with the added complexity of constantly moving data between stand-alone software applications. To add to this, the company was continuing to grow with new acquisitions that would place even more demands on the software. A main pain point that Barrick needed to address was the ability to consolidate and access financial information as fast as possible. The team considered the SAP Cloud suite or staying on their existing Hyperion solutions, but neither seemed to be able to handle all the capabilities Barrick required. Choosing The Right CPM Solution Barrick Gold faced a tough decision: upgrade their current systems and work within its limitations or make the switch to the more advanced platform, OneStream. OneStream is the intelligent finance platform for the modern enterprise. The platform allows users to unify financial consolidation, reporting, planning, and analytics through a single, extensible technology platform. After comparing all the solutions, Barrick realized that neither Hyperion nor SAP were considered mature enough to meet the complex needs of the company and OneStream was the way to go. Barrick knew that migrating to OneStream would serve them better in the long run. However, transitioning onto a new platform can be time-consuming and complicated. Barrick arranged a meeting with the OneStream experts at Ascend to help them understand how the new software would be implemented. The Ascend Advantage At Ascend, we work exclusively with OneStream to accelerate the implementation process and minimize business disruption. We have sophisticated tools and templates that we’ve prebuilt to make the process smoother. After our meeting, Barrick Gold realized that we had the expertise and deep knowledge that would be needed to manage their transition to the OneStream platform. Unlimited Capabilities and Possibilities When it comes to mining, the data is of significant volume and complexity; currency values are continually changing, tax requirements vary from country to country, and commodity prices fluctuate constantly. To measure the value of assets within the mining industry, Barrick needed the ability to measure the life of mining in a financial system. Before switching to OneStream, Barrick used separate software for their forecasting. However, OneStream allows companies to build out the metadata once and align it with multiple business units under different functions. When work only needs to be done one time, there’s less room for user error. With OneStream, Barrick no longer needed different software to get the job done. At the time of the implementation, OneStream was initially able to forecast 30 years ahead, but Barrick needed to forecast further into the future. OneStream was able to adjust this number specifically to meet Barrick’s needs after hearing this feedback. Now, OneStream allows forecasting of more than 60 years ahead. Improved Workflows, Better Visibility and More It’s been over a year since Barrick Gold implemented OneStream. The new platform has been nothing but positive for the company. Barrick has benefited from the improved workflows and additional security. There are over 400 entities in the workflow, and you can see the stage of any of these entities at any time. Full visibility means added accountabilities. The company has reported more engagement between the worksites and corporate offices thanks to OneStream. Within the platform, workflow setups are there and easy for everyone to access. Actuals and planning share the same metadata and ratios calculations, creating more harmony. Barrick is working to bring all its operations onto OneStream by the end of the year, which will only further benefit the company. An Implementation Process With Proven Results At Ascend, we want to make your transition to OneStream just as seamless and beneficial as it was for Barrick Gold. Our long-standing reputation as your most-trusted advisor for CPM solutions was made possible by our capable, reliable, and service-focused team, who are ready to work with you. We’ll work alongside your team for better training and increased learning opportunities for faster launches. Schedule a consultation today.